5 facts about 5 songs about being unwell, a playlist for today’s world . . .
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Fever:
Artist:
Peggy Lee
Year:
1958
Video:
Lyrics:
Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear
You give me fever (you give me fever) when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight (you give me fever)
Fever in the mornin'
Fever all through the night
Sun lights up the day time
Moon lights up the night
I light up when you call my name
'Cause I know you're gonna treat me right
You give me fever (You give me fever) when you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight (You give me fever)
Fever in the mornin'
Fever all through the night (Wow!)
Everybody's got the fever
That is somethin' you all know
Fever isn't such a new thing
Fever started long time ago
Baby, turn on your love light (Yeah, yeah)
Let it shine on me (Yeah, yeah)
Well, baby, turn on your love light (Yeah, yeah)
And let it shine on me (Yeah, yeah)
Well, just a little bit higher (Yeah, yeah)
And just a little bit brighter, baby (Yeah, yeah)
Ow!
You give me fever (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
You give me fever (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
You give me fever (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
You give me fever
Romeo loved Juliet
Juliet she felt the same
When he put his arms around her
He said, "Julie baby you're my flame"
Thou givest fever when we kisseth
Fever with thy flaming youth
Fever I'm on fire
Fever yea I burn forsooth
Captain Smith and Pocahontas
Had a very mad affair
When her daddy tried to kill him
She said "Daddy oh don't you dare"
"He gives me fever with his kisses"
"Fever when he holds me tight"
"Fever, I'm his missus"
"Daddy won't you treat him right?"
Now you've listened to my story
Here's the point that I have made
Chicks were born to give you fever
Be it Fahrenheit or centigrade
We give you fever when we kiss you
Fever if you live and learn
Fever till you sizzle
What a lovely way to burn
What a lovely way to burn
What a lovely way to burn
What a lovely way to burn
Song notes:
1.
Written by Otis Blackwell who also wrote "Don't Be Cruel," "Great Balls of Fire," and "All Shook Up."
2.
Originally recorded by Little Willie John (one of the first R&B singers and so named because he was only 1.6m / 5 feet 4 inches tall) in 1956 for his debut album, Fever, and released as a single in April of the same year. The song topped the Billboard R&B Best Sellers in the US. After stabbing a man to death, he was jailed for manslaughter and died in prison aged 30. Hear Little Willie John’s version at:
Little Willie John didn't want to record this at first because he didn't like the finger snapping.
3.
Peggy Lee’s version is the most famous. Her record producers thought she was crazy to have only a bassist and fingersnaps to accompany her, but she stuck to her guns, and the result was this classic recording.
4.
Lee turned it from R&B / rock n roll to a jazz number / torch song, saying in an interview "I thought, well, I think I'd like to use it with just the bass and drums." As she moulded the song she dropped the drums as well. Lee also skipped about two choruses which she considered unsuitable to her approach and inserted several new choruses, over 30 new lines.
5.
Hear Elvis’s version, very similar to Peggy Lee’s, at:
_______________
Come and See Her
Artist:
The Easybeats
Year:
1966
Video:
Lyrics:
Doctor, doctor, my baby’s sick,
Come and see her, come and see her,
Doctor, doctor, you better come quick,
Come and see her, come and see her,
I brought her home from a dance last night,
Come and see her, come and see her,
When she started---clinging--- to me real tight,
Doctor, doctor, my baby’s so kind,
Come and see her, come and see her,
But doctor, doctor, she’s going out of her mind,
Come and see her, come and see her,
She started screaming and looking above,
Come and see her, come and see her,
Tell me doctor----can it be love,
Bridge.
She started screaming and pulling my hair,
Come and see her, come and see her,
Oh doctor, doctor, you should have been there
Come and see her, come and see her,
Oh, doctor, doctor, my baby’s---bad,
Come and see her, come and see her,
Doctor, doctor, i think she’s been had,
Oh, yeah, come and see her (repeat 4 times)
Song notes:
1.
Recorded by Oz group The Easybeats in 1966, went to No 3 in the Australian charts.
2.
Written b Stevie Wright and George Young, members of the Beats.
3.
It was the group's debut single in the United Kingdom.
4.
The first Australian rock act to score an international hit with the 1966 single "Friday on My Mind", as well as one of the few in Australia to exclusively write and record original material.
5.
The Beats broke up in 1969. Singer Stevie Wright died in 2015 and rhythm guitarist George Young (brother of Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC) died in 2017.
________________
Streets of Philadelphia
Artist:
Bruce Sprongsteen
Year:
1993
Video:
Lyrics:
I was bruised and battered
I couldn't tell what I felt
I was unrecognizable to myself
Saw my reflection in a window
And didn't know my own face
Oh brother are you gonna leave me wastin' away
On the streets of Philadelphia?
I walked the avenue, 'til my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Just as black and whispering as the rain
On the streets of Philadelphia
Ain't no angel gonna greet me
It's just you and I my friend
And my clothes don't fit me no more
A thousand miles just to slip this skin
The night has fallen, I'm lyin' awake
I can feel myself fading away
So receive me brother with your faithless kiss
Or will we leave each other alone like this
On the streets of Philadelphia?
Song notes:
1.
Written and performed by American rock musician Bruce Springsteen for the film Philadelphia (1993), an early mainstream film dealing with HIV/AIDS. The film stars Tom Hanks as a lawyer dying of AIDS.
2.
The song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song and four Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo, and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television.
3.
Director Jonathan Demme wanted people not familiar with AIDS issues to see his film. He felt Springsteen and Neil Young would bring an audience that would not ordinarily see a movie about a gay man dying of AIDS. The movie and the song did a great deal to increase AIDS awareness and take some of the stigma off the disease.
4.
Neil Young wrote Philadelphia for the same film. Hear it at:
The melancholic nature of Young's contribution led to Demme switching it to the ending, rather than opening, song. This left him with the problem of an opening song, hence his request to Springsteen to write an opening song.
5.
Demme asked Springsteen for a rock song to open the movie. Springsteen started writing it based on lyrics he had previously written about the death of one of his friends, but it did not work over a rock beat. Springsteen sent what he came up with to Demme, considering it an unfinished demo. Demme loved it and felt it was perfect for his movie just as it was.
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Honey
Artist:
Bobby Goldsboro
Year:
1968
Video:
Lyrics:
See the tree how big it's grown
But friend it hasn't been too long, it wasn't big
I laughed at her and she got mad
The first day that she planted, it was just a twig
And then the first snow came
And she ran out to brush the snow away so it wouldn't die
Came running in all excited
Slipped and almost hurt herself, I laughed till I cried
She was always young at heart
Kinda dumb and kinda smart and I loved her so
And I surprised her with a puppy
Kept me up all Christmas Eve two years ago
And it would sure embarrass her
When I came home from working late 'cause I would know
That she'd been there a crying
Over some sad and silly late, late show
And honey, I miss you
And I'm being good
And I'd love to be with you
If only I could
She wrecked the car and she was sad
So afraid that I'd be mad but what the heck
Though I pretended hard to be
Guess you could say she saw through me and hugged my neck
I came home unexpectedly
Found her crying needlessly in the middle of the day
And it was in the early spring
When flowers bloom and Robins sing, she went away
And honey, I miss you
And I'm being good
And I'd love to be with you
If only I could
Yes, one day while I was not at home
While she was there and all alone the angels came
Now all I have is memories
Of honey and I wake up nights and call her name
And now my life's an empty stage
Where honey lived and honey played and love grew up
A small cloud passes overhead
And cries down on the flower bed that honey loved
Yes, see the tree how big it's grown
But friend it hasn't been too long, it wasn't big
I laughed at her and she got mad
The first day that she planted, it was just a twig
And honey, I miss you
And I'm being good
And I'd love to be with you
If only I could
Song notes:
1.
Written by Bobby Russell who produced it with former Kingston Trio member Bob Shane, who released his version a week before that of Bobby Goldsboro,
2.
Although it has been classed by many as the worst song of all time, it:
- sold a million copies in its first three weeks
- was the fastest-selling record in the history of United Artists
- was the best-selling record worldwide for 1968, more popular even than "Hey Jude"
- was a crossover hit, topping both the pop and country singles charts, one of only three songs to do so in the 1960s
- was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1968: Record of the Year and Best Contemporary-Pop Vocal Performance, Male.
- was awarded Song of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association.
3.
The song's singer mourns his deceased wife, beginning with him looking at a tree in their garden, remembering how "it was just a twig" on the day she planted it. The song’s writer, Bobby Russell, got the idea for the song when he noticed how much a tree in his front yard had grown in four years.
4.
In 1968 Goldsboro said: "I think 'Honey' is a very emotional song, but it's not like what I call a sick song, a death song. Actually what it is, very simply, is just a guy remembering little things that happened while his wife was alive and to me that's not sick at all."
5.
A cautionary note: have a bucket near you if you listen to it.
By the way, what happened to the puppy? He should have given it to John Wick.
_______________
St James Infirmary Blues
Artist:
Various
Year:
Various
Video:
The Louis Armstrong 1928 recording:
Lyrics:
Those used in the Louis Armstrong version:
It was down in Old Joe’s barroom,
On the corner by the square,
Drinks were being served as usual,
And a goodly crowd was there.
When up stepped old Joe McGuinny
His eyes were bloodshot red;
As he poured himself more whiskey,
This is what he said:
I went down to the St. James Infirmary
I saw my baby there,
Stretched out on a cold white table,
So cold, so sweet, so fair.
Let her go, let her go, God bless her;
Wherever she may be
She may search this wide world over
But she’ll never find a sweet man like me.
When I die, want you to dress me in straight laced shoes
A box back coat and a Stetson hat;
Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain
So the boys know I died standin’ pat.
There are sixteen cold black horses,
Hitched to her rubber tired hack;
There are seven women goin’ to that graveyard,
And only six of ’em are coming back.
Now that you’ve heard my story,
Pour me one more shot of booze;
And if anyone comes askin’ about me,
Tell ’em I got, Saint James Infirmary blues.
Song notes:
1.
St. James Infirmary Blues" is an American blues song of uncertain origin. Louis Armstrong made the song famous in his 1928 recording.
2.
The song's title is derived from St. James Hospital in London, a religious foundation for the treatment of leprosy. It was closed in 1532 when Henry VIII acquired the land to build St. James Palace. The lyrics tell the tale of a man explaining to the singer/narrator, at a bar, how he went down to St. James Infirmary and tragically found his girl (the so-called "baby") dead.
3.
Louis Armstrong made the song famous in his influential 1928 recording and another notable recording was by Van Morrison on the 2003 Grammy-nominated album, What's Wrong With This Picture?. Other performers of the tune include Cab Calloway, King Oliver, Artie Shaw, Big Mama Thornton, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Paul Butterfield, The Animals, and The White Stripes.
4.
In the Louis Armstrong version, the narrator goes down to his neighborhood bar and speaks to a man who has recently witnessed his “baby’s” death, and thus has begun to think a little bit about his own death.
Love the verse:
There are sixteen cold black horses,
Hitched to her rubber tired hack;
There are seven women goin’ to that graveyard,
and only six of ’em are coming back.
5.
Hugh (Dr House) Laurie is a great jazz muso and does this number on his album Let Them Talk, A Celebration of New Orleans Blues. Here is a clip:
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